b'STARTING OUTA double of 4-6kg snapper taken off the rocks at top of the Coromandel.First kingfish for the writer back in 1989 and taken on a Rapala in the Kaipara.Being only 13 - 14 years of age, Iout a strip of it and no snapper in theIn the Kaipara harbour, the huge sand couldnt drive yet so had to head downarea can resist it, and theyre usually thebanks are exposed at low tide and in the the beach on foot. Later at about 16bigger ones. shallows the kingfish attack the mullet as years old and with a drivers license, Ithey sun themselves over the warm sand.was allowed to take the old Land RoverKINGFISH ON RAPALA The plan was to troll Rapalas along the on my own.I was taught to find a goodWhile standing for hours in the surf andsand banks and on our very first attempt low tide bank or deeper high-water holegaining valuable fishing experience, I hada huge strike by a kingie missed one of and use fresh bait.Tuatua works juston occasion seen huge kingfish comingthe lures!fine on trevally or snapper, and afterin close behind the waves chasingSeeing that got me excited but for the casting out, the bait was usually hit inmullet.I had read all about them andnext hour nothing else happened and short time.Trevally were the dominanthow hard they fight in the popular fishingwhile I was daydreaming, another fish species as the snapper fishing wasmagazines, and I desperately wanted tohit a lure and we were on.When Muzza tough in the late eighties from all theland one.Trying to live bait in the surfgave me the rod I couldnt believe the commercial over-fishing. was however too tricky and I even triedweight and how strong the kingie was, it Nothing wrong with catching hardmaking my own pencil popper which onlytook me a while to subdue it and it was fighting trevs on the surfcaster though! caught kahawai.One of my keen fishingonly 10-12kg!My first kingfish was now Back then, we only smoked or pan-frieduncles, Muzza Pattinson had a boat andticked off and I knew I would be chasing trevally as no one ate sushi or sashimi.Iwas catching them in the Kaipara, hethese mighty fish over my angling life also learnt that fresh trevally makes toptook me along when I was 15 years old atafter that day.That is where the love of snapper bait on the west coast.Sendthe end of fifth form in 89. fighting kings started for me.66FISHING IN GODZONE SEP/OCT 2022'